Business Digest

Updated 10:00 pm, Friday, July 11, 2003

Investor Gabelli raises stake in Fisher

Investment manager
Mario Gabelli
has increased his stake in Seattle-based
Fisher Communications Inc.
from 7.1 percent to 8.1 percent of its shares, the company reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Fisher is the parent of KOMO-TV, three Seattle radio stations and other broadcast properties in the Pacific Northwest. The investment management firm for Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates also holds a stake in Fisher.

Shurgard makes move to repay debt

Shurgard Storage Centers Inc.
, a Seattle-based company that operates more than 585 storage centers in the United States and Europe, sold $162.5 million worth of shares to repay debt yesterday. Shurgard sold 5 million shares before the market opened at $32.50 each, a 2 percent discount to the stock's closing share price yesterday.

Verizon is ordered to rehire 2,300

An arbitrator has ordered
Verizon Communications Inc.
to rehire 2,300 people in New York state who were laid off in December, striking a blow against the phone company's cost-cutting efforts and increasing the tension surrounding Verizon's talks on a new labor contract.

Verizon had argued that the layoffs were justified because of a weak economy and toughening competition in the phone business.

Allen's Charter to buy back notes

Charter Communications Corp., the cable-television company controlled by Microsoft Corp. co-founder
Paul Allen
, will sell about $1.7 billion of junk bonds, gaining cash to buy back some convertible notes and more time to pay debt. Charter said yesterday it will use funds from the sale of high-risk, high-yield bonds to rebuy most of its $1.38 billion worth of notes convertible into common shares for as much as 82.5 cents on the dollar.

Shipping news

Vessels due at the Port of Seattle today, according to the Marine Exchange of Puget Sound, include Amsterdam, from Victoria, B.C., at Terminal 30; Carinthia, from Vancouver, B.C., at 18; Norwegian Sky, from Victoria, B.C., at 66; and Star Princess, from Victoria, B.C., at 30. Due tomorrow are Hanjin Praha, from Pusan, South Korea, at 46; Kuala Lumpur Express, from Tokyo, at 46; and Norwegian Sun, from Victoria, B.C., at 66.